The ''Pig 'n Whistle'' was an American restaurant and bar located in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It begins in the east at Sunset Boulevard in the Los Feliz district and proceeds to the west as a major thoroughfare through Little Armenia and Thai Town, Hollywoo ...

History

The Pig 'n Whistle was originally a chain of restaurants and candy shops, founded by John Gage in 1908. He opened his first location in

Downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) contains the central business district of Los Angeles. In addition, it contains a diverse residential area of some 85,000 people, and covers . A 2013 study found that the district is home to over 500,000 jobs. It is ...

, next to the now-demolished 1888 City Hall at 224 S. Broadway. Restaurateur Sidney Hoedemaker joined the company in 1927 and led expansion efforts throughout Southern California. Hoedemaker purchased a downtown Los Angeles restaurant called Neve's Melody Lane in 1927 and adopted the name "Melody Lane" for new locations through the 1930s and 40s Hoedemaker left Pig 'n Whistle in 1949 and started a chain of Hody's restaurants aimed at the young families moving into the Post WWII suburbs. The Hollywood location of the ''Pig 'n Whistle'' was first opened in 1927 next to ''

The Egyptian Theatre Egyptian-style theatres are based on the traditional and historic design elements of Ancient Egypt. The first Egyptian Theatre to be constructed in the US – which inspired many of the identically-named theatres that followed it – was Graum ...

''. The building housing the new restaurant cost $225,000 and featured " rved oak rafters, imported tiles, artistically wrought grilles and balcony and great panelled fresco paintings from Don Quixote." It was frequented by such celebrities as

Spencer Tracy Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the first actor to win two cons ...

Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple;While Temple occasionally used "Jane" as a middle name, her birth certificate reads "Shirley Temple". Her birth certificate was altered to prolong her babyhood shortly after she signed with Fox in ...

and

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in th ...

. The original Hollywood location closed down after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and its distinctive wooden furniture, decorated with hand-carved whistle-playing pigs, was sold to Miceli's Italian Restaurant, located around the corner at 1646 Las Palmas Avenue, where it remains to the present day. By the late 1990s the location housed a fast-food pizza restaurant, and all that remained of the original tenant was a bas-relief pig on the front of the building. In 1999, British restaurant operator Chris Breed remodeled the building, recovering the spectacular original ceiling ornamentation, and re-opened the restaurant. The restaurant name originates from two

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

words, piggin, a lead mug, and

wassail Wassail (, , most likely from Old Norse ''"ves heill"'') is a beverage made from hot mulled cider, ale, or wine and spices, drunk traditionally as an integral part of wassailing, an ancient English Yuletide drinking ritual and salutation ei ...

, a wine associated with the

Yuletide Yule, actually Yuletide ("Yule time") is a festival observed by the historical Germanic peoples, later undergoing Christianised reformulation resulting in the now better-known Christmastide. The earliest references to Yule are by way of indig ...

season. From mid-March 2020 to April 2021, the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

forced the restaurant to serve customers in a

take-away A take-out or takeout (U.S., Canada, and the Philippines); carry-out or to-go (Scotland and some dialects in the U.S. and Canada); takeaway (England, Wales, Australia, Lebanon, South Africa, Northern Ireland, Ireland, and occasionally in Nort ...

format. It soon closed, and in October 2021, the interior was gutted, with the exterior being crudely painted over, as a

cantina A cantina is a type of bar common in Latin America and Spain. The word is similar in etymology to " canteen", and is derived from the Italian word for a cellar, winery, or vault. In Italy, the word ''cantina'' refers to a room below the groun ...

would take over its space. This included the bas-relief pigs being covered by skulls to establish the new restaurant's theme. No modification permits had been taken out by the building's owner with the city of Los Angeles for either the exterior and interior.

In Popular Culture

*1974 – In ''

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...

'' J.J. Gittes says that Noah Cross last met Hollis I. Mulwray in front of the Pig 'n Whistle. *2001 - ''Visiting... with

Huell Howser Huell Burnley Howser (October 18, 1945 – January 7, 2013) was an American television personality, actor, producer, writer, singer, and voice artist, best known for hosting, producing, and writing ''California's Gold'' and his human interest sh ...

'' Episode 909 *2019 - The ''Pig 'n Whistle'' was featured in the song "Colorado Bound" by Big SMO

References

* *

External links

* Drinking establishments in California Defunct drinking establishments in the United States Restaurants established in 1927 Restaurants disestablished in 2021 1927 establishments in California 2021 disestablishments in California Defunct restaurants in Hollywood, Los Angeles {{US-restaurant-stub